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Wow! What timing! I just ordered one of these a few days ago. I paid $312 during a sale on monoprice. I'm not sure how one can compare that to a $485 monitor, even at the normal ~390 price point, it's still a 25% increase in price, which is pretty huge. They are often running sales and massdrop has these frequently as well, and when bought like that it's closer to a 40% price difference, which is astronomical.

Anandtech has been my favorite tech news site for years and years, but this article is disappointing. This monitor does not target people looking at waiting for a dell to go on sale just to pay 600 dollars for it. This monitor targets people who were going to pay 200-250 for a LED backlit TN 1920x1080 panel, and then realized they could jump up to a 2560x1440 IPS without spending 3-4x as much.Reply

in a perfect world, all consumers make logical decisions when purchasing their products. People who buy LED backlit TN panels and know what a TN panel is probably bought it for gaming purposes. You just can't get the smoothness of a TN panel on an IPS.

So I do think this is targeting people waiting on Dell to go on sale. The crowd who buys TN panels won't be interested in this regardless.Reply

I think there are people out there who do not buy TN panels out of ignorance, but simply because it is what they can afford. I know many people who buy TN panels who would love to have IPS instead, but can't afford the dollar per screen real estate. For years now it's been cheaper to buy 3 1920x1080 21.5" tn panels than a single IPS. Heck it still is that way in many cases. The exception has been the Korean Ebay monitors.

That brings me to another point I forgot to make, the korean Ebay monitor scene. This also targets the people who didn't want to get burned buying a Catleap, Shimian, Crossover, Qnix, etc. That's actually a very large portion of people I've seen show interest in this monitor when I started researching it. Monoprice is a known, trusted company based in the USA. That's a pretty big selling point for many people.Reply

I'm definitely one of those people who can't afford a $600 monitor, and was unsatisfied with the cheap TN panels, even though the primary use of my monitor is for gaming. I settled with the Zero-G for $350, and it's such a huge upgrade to my $150 TN. To say gaming on a TN is better is completely personal preference. I don't play a ton of fast paced shooters, and prefer to enjoy the colors and high resolution in games I can get now. This panel has completely met my expectations as a cheap alternative to the Dells that can cost over 2x as much for what I consider marginal improvements and some nicer interfaces.

For this article to recommend me something in a completely different price range is something that I can understand from the author, but is not what the review should conclude. I'm not gonna tell someone to get a $300 cpu when a $200 one will do just fine for them. The same goes for monitors. I can understand if this monitor was a piece of junk, but I've been using mine for nearly 2 months now and have enjoyed it immensely.Reply

For those who have this monitor, how does the monitor appear to you at reduced brightness? Unless I misunderstood from the power usage and brightness pages, the monitor cannot reduce brightness much below the standard maximum. For me that would be a deal breaker because I use my existing monitor with a similar max brightness at or below 50% brightness more than half the time because it's easier on my eyes. In your experience, does reducing the brightness not work well or work but just degrade quality?Reply

To Snoopykins... Ok so let me get this straight. Anandtech tested the monitor and it wasn't very good but you want them to say it is. Shouldn't they call it as it is and let you make your decision?Reply

I suggested looking at the Nixeus VUE 27, which can be found for $400 on sale or $470 normally, and the Dell U2713HM, which can be found refurbished for under $500 and for around $530-550 on sale normally. Neither of those is 50% more than the Monoprice.Reply

I have to call shenanigans on this line of reasoning. You're comparing full MSRP of the Monoprice to significant sale prices on the other monitors. The first comment mentioned getting the monitor for $312, so there's no reason to assume that the Monoprice monitor's price is set in stone at the MSRP. Generally sales are going to be anchored to the MSRP (10% off, 20% off, etc.) so sales on the more expensive monitors will tend to have a higher lower bound than sales on Monoprice's offering. Of course Monoprice is likely working with significantly lower margins, and so might have less room for discounts, but that's not actually a knock against them in the comparison.

I think that it would have been instructive to compare the monitor with similarly priced and lower priced offerings, rather than just monitors that are significantly more expensive. This would have necessitated stepping outside of strict class boundaries, but I think that's warranted in the case of this monitor. To wit, depending on how bad it is, you can think of a bad IPS monitor as a crossover between the world of super cheap, poor quality TN displays and expensive relatively higher quality IPS displays. I think that's the context that this monitor fits best into but this review hasn't included that context.Reply

I agree with Snoopykins that Anandtech has completely missed the mark on the target consumer for this product. When you compare this to a $850 monitor it seems terrible, when you're comparing it to a $120 TN monitor, the panel is so much better that the downsides might be worth it... Understand the difference?Reply

okay how about buying an asus vx279? retail pricing is $299. it's a good 1920x1080 ips panel and is cheaper than the monoprice monitor. sure the monoprice is higher res but for the average consumer saving $80 is more important than 2560x1440. the argument that most people looking at these and korean cheapo ips 27" are looking for something better than a tn panel doesn't hold up. these are being sold to folks who want cheaper 2560x1440 ips panels. that market is predominantly art driven not gaming driven. gamers go for 120hz or 144hz and buy multiples, those are tn panel monitors at mid $200 price points.

the article is spot on in it's assesment. if you are looking at an accurate high res monitor better off getting something pre-calibrated and slightly more expensive. if you are just going for resolution for gaming better off anyway with multiple narrow bezel 1920x1080 tn panels for the performance and resolution factor.Reply

I went the eBay route a little over a year ago and bought a Qnix. It's been a great monitor. It was $285 at the time, though they have gone up some since. If you go that route odds are that it will be fine. The gamble is on those few that aren't, and getting service.Reply

You act like a 5760x1080 triple setup _must_ be TN at this price point which simply isn't true. There are cheap decent quality 21.5" 1080p IPS panels for $140 or less, that are also likely calibrated better than this thing.

I'm glad the prices have finally started coming down on higher res IPS panels, but if the out of the box calibration is terrible I don't think it's much of a "deal". I almost bought the Nixeus when it first came out, but I ended up with an IPS Eyefinity setup for the same price (including an awesome stand).Reply

" For years now it's been cheaper to buy 3 1920x1080 21.5" tn panels than a single IPS. "

That's simply not true, unless you're making some kinda illogical correlation between IPS and displays that are 27"+... I bought three 24" 1920x1200 IPS displays from Dell for $300 each about two years ago (free shipping btw). Those aren't even the cheapest IPS displays around (by far) but I paid a premium for 16:10 since it looks better in a PPP configuration.

There's plenty of IPS displays that overlap in price with the better TN displays at those sizes (<24"). Good 27"+ displays are generally IPS (and have been considerably more expensive) because A) at that size TN's viewing angles become an issue even if you sit completely still and just move your head B) displays that large are obviously more of a niche.

IPS has always been more expensive, but it's been a while since it's been prohibitively more expensive. Personally I'd still take 2-3 smaller but better displays over 1-2 displays like this one, but that's more of a personal judgment call.Reply

That is pure BS. Gamers love the detail of the high resolution panel and the image quality of the IPS panel. Go to a site like Overclock.net, which has a quite large contingent of people running these and the Korean import monitors, we are talking about hundreds of people, most of whom are gaming on the monitor.Input lag is negligible on these and not so far off the TN panels you assume every gamer would want. The competitive FPS players are going to buy 120Hz panels and that leaves everyone else who can afford it with one of these inexpensive 27" IPS monitors as at least an option.Reply

I definitely disagree. I own a Korean monitor and was a TN user... but I was a TN user by price bracket rather than choice (even though I'm a gamer). To say "oh the extra $200 is worth it" completely ignores the fact that (probably) most people who are seriously looking at one of these in the first place are already really reaching to get one of these. For another $200 to get to a sale-priced Dell, those same people are now going to be paying 3-4X what they paid for their current monitorReply

I actually already got a Asus IPS monitor that has better color settings for my art. It has more even backlighting, as well as a better backlight, and while the differences between my Auira 2560x1440 IPS (got it for $350 at Microcenter, open box) are slim, the shades of red do seem better on the Asus IPS.

My point is, I survived on FPS games at 14ms refresh times in 2004. I see no reason why I couldn't today, so I game at 2560x1440.

The games looking amazing, and since a cut down on the anti-aliasing (you don't need AA as much at this resolution, so when you played AA8 you can now cut it down to AA2 and it still looks better than AA8 did on a 1920x1080 monitor)

Now this compromise actually makes my games lag less. So I'm actually getting a more consistent experience this way. Not that lag was a constant issue, but it was very annoying when it did happen. So all in all, this kind of monitor has greatly improved my gaming.

Add to that being able to physically see "more" of what is going on around you, there's a chance you have an upper-hand in being able to see another player slightly before they notice you.Reply

I always find this funny, since Chris Eberle (who writes the display reviews for Tom's Hardware) and I both handle all the projector and flat panel reviews at Secrets of Home Theater (hometheaterhifi.com).Reply

TFTCentral reviewed the Acheiva Shimian 27" IPS Zero-G (which the Monoprice is a rebrand of), and explained that the weird brightness/contrast issue is due to the backlight being lit at a constant level, and brightness just changing the digital brightness (i.e. lowering brightness lowers dynamic range, raising it too far results in clipping). See: http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/achieva_27_ips...Reply

How confident are you that 'this' Monoprice is a rebrand of 'that' Shimian? That Shimian review is very specific about the A-IPS panel from LG used, but neither this AT review nor the Monoprice website specify the panel used in this monitor. We don't even know what subtype of IPS this is, AFAIK.Reply

I was considering getting this monitor over one of the ebay panels due to it being a legit vendor. I'm sure glad I didn't. I ended up getting an X-Star/Qnix for under $300, shipped to my door in 3 days. It has perfect image quality and colors out of the box and overclocks to 120 hz. These panels are extremely highly regarded, I'd very much reccomend biting the bullet and just going with the ebay vendors. Worse case scenario, you get a bad panel and have to return it/sell it and buy another one. But it's worth it, IMO.Reply

The most important metric ofr this kind of monitor is not in the review:how far can you overclock the monitor in DL-DVI?Does the monitor really OCs or just skips frames while reporting fake refresh rates?Reply

Great review! I've loved my Auria EQ276W, which is similar to this. These screens always look bad in reviews because they get compared to high end displays that are 50-100% more expensive, but compared to the typical TN junk that most people are used to, these screens are a HUGE upgrade. Wish more conclusions mentioned that. Reply

We all know that IPS is going to be a big gain over TN when it comes to image quality. The question for the Monoprice is how it does relative to other 2560x1440 IPS displays. When you can find the Nixeus on sale for $400 and the Dell U2713HM refurbished for $450, the value issue comes into play. If you need any connection other than DVI, the Monoprice is just priced too high.Reply

Back in the day it was pretty well understood that you didn't go cheap on the monitor or power supply, the first because it's the single most important user interface element of the computer, and the second because failures are most frequent with cheap power supplies. What ever happened to these ideas? I'd rather save for a few months and get a good quality $600 monitor than an extremely suspicious $350 one. How long is this Monoprice monitor likely to last? If the company can't even be bothered to put any effort into the calibration or proper brightness implementation, how much effort do you think went into ensuring that the hardware was well constructed and well assembled? And how much money do you think they've set aside for support? I think you'd be fooling yourself if you believed that they haven't done the minimal they can just to get the things out the door. Not exactly confidence inspiring.

Maybe just move down in size and get a much better monitor for the same price that isn't quite as OMFG huge as this one?Reply

I had a Samsung 305 plus go out twice, second time for good. That was your high end monitor for you. Faulty design but I enjoyed it while it worked. Point is, your largely just paying markup. It's all coming from a few places. Monoprice isn't some high end American brand and neither is Dell. I say this having one good Shimian and one current X-Star I'm going to have to send back for an entire line of dead pixels. Still going to save money in the end and get to 120hz or bust. I have no extra faith in the big names. Marketing.Reply

Another reason to buy a good monitor is that, unlike most types of computer technology, it won't become obsolete in a few years. Sure, it's possible to get a lemon which dies the moment the warranty expires, but chances are that when you buy a monitor you are buying something that you will be living with for a long time.Reply

Nice review and I agree with the conclusion.I honestly don't understand why manufacturers don't calibrate their displays before shipping them. Is it too much to ask for?Question for the guys here - why do you want a cheap, uncalibrated 120hz 27 ips 2560x1440 display? for gaming? if so, ignoring the lag, show me the recent game you can run at 120fps@2560x1440 on high settings. Lets see, Crysis 3? no. Battlefield 3? no. upcoming direct x 11 games? haha. Maybe call of duty. And even for that you will need at least the 650$ 780gtx video card. So enlight me for your reason please. Reply

It was. Because Skyrim and Borderlands 2 are not the games I would call demanding. So I guess if you want to play last gen game engines at 120hz@2560x1440 you will be fine. I would rather play at 60hz and get a stable frame rate with higher quality settings. Don't get me wrong, I would love to play at 120hz ,but with the graphics engines/video cards of today I would stick with 60hz. Btw the Catleap 2B looks nice. Recommended?Reply

I wouldn't hold my breath on PC gaming hitting 120hz within a few years on single GPU setups. With the new consoles lifting low end target GPU performance up several orders of magnitude, I expect a major jump in requirements needed to max setting as well. Needing SLI/xFire to game at high/2560/60hz again wouldn't surprise me at all.Reply

The people out there who have spent $650-2000 on GPU hardware are admittedly the minority, but plenty of them exist. For these people, their rigs are effectively wasted when gaming on 60Hz 2560x1440 monitors or 120Hz 1920x1080 monitors.

FYI I game on a 2560x1440 monitor OC'd to 120Hz, and I just have a single 7970. How do I get 120fps? Buy....(drumroll)...adjusting the in-game settings! I start by minimising or disabling AA and work from there. I prefer fluidity of motion over 'maxing' out graphics. So there you go, that's my reason.Reply

Again I'd like to request 110/120hz overclocking support information in these reviews.

After all, it was here reading Anandtech that I learned the benefits of 120hz several years ago, and have been chasing that feature ever since. I think it's strange that you guys don't even mention it anymore when you're the ones who sold me on the feature. I'm still sitting on 10 year old 19" LCDs because thanks to you I refuse to upgrade to anything but high hz monitors.Reply

Check out Overlord monitors. It is an American company that sources 27" LG panels and a driver board that is easily overclocked to 120Hz. I got one a few weeks ago and it I was able to overclock to 120Hz easily using dual 7970s. BF3 looks great. It does not usually hit above 100Hz, but the experience is much smoother than just 60Hz. Reply

To be honest, I had only read about them on various forums before ordering one. The major drawback to these is that there is only one dual link DVI input and that's it. There is also no OSD. All color calibration needs to be done from your video card control panel. I loaded a color profile for the monitor from the Overlord forums and it's a good starting point. I have a Dell U2410 right next to it. Once I loaded the color profile, I used Catalyst Control Center to get the colors as close to the Dell as I could.Apparently, the lack of OSD and scaling makes the total response time very low. I brought it to my friend's and hooked it up to his 690. The 690 was able to drive most of his games at or near 120Hz and it looked incredible.I would really like to see Anandtech do a review of these...Reply

Minor pedantic correction: lack of OSD and a scaler (plus the fact that there is only DVI as the sole supported input) keeps input lag and overall latency low, but the pixel response time of the S-IPS panel remains the same as before, i.e., "approximately 6ms or less (GTG)"Reply

In a recent BenQ review Chris claimed that he would review these if he could get his hands on a sample. At the time he seemed unaware of Overlord - he claimed that the only overclockable IPS screens were imports - so I hope he will eventually review these delightful monitors.

That said, no I'm not aware of any 'official'/pro reviews, just lots of glowing user reportsReply

I have a korean 27" and it is a solid monitor. I also have a Viewsonic VP2770LED and it blows the korean monitor away in terms of quality and image. The step up from a typical TN to the korean is enormous, but so is the jump from the Korean to a fully featured high end monitor. Something that is very important for some people is the PWM dimming. I had major issues with head aches using the Korean monitor daily, while the Viewsonic has been pain free.Reply

I bought a X-Star monitor from ebay. I also got a Eye-one Display 2 calibrator for $35 shipped from ebay. I upgraded from a 27" 1920*1200 TN monitor. The X-star is way way better in color and viewing angels as expected. But calibrating the monitors made a big difference in both monitors. Even in the TN panel that I was amazed and regret not buying the Eye-one Display 2 before.Reply

FYI (and for everyone else), the i1Display2 hasn't been made for a few years now. It has a non-sealed optics design that is especially prone to drift. I compared mine (kept in a sealed bag with silica) to a NIST-certified i1Pro the other year and the i1Display2 had an average dE2000 error of close to 10.0. They can measure light output fine, but getting color accuracy from them after more than a year or two just doesn't happen due to the design.Reply

I do not doubt it is not a 100% accurate calibration for the problem u mentioned but for sure looks a lot better than the manual calibration I tried to do. I do not do anything professional with it so I do not need 100% color accuracy or even close to it so I am happy the way it looks and I compared it to the ICCs floating around for this monitor and I though the one done with the i1 looked better to my eyes (probably because it is wrong though) Reply

Really wish companies would produce the display hardware that would go with the IPS panels capable of pumping 120hz and give us a high speed, high frames per second IPS monitor. Even if we had to overclock it ourselves, just make sure the monitor can do it.

I would say the same for my 24" Soyo Topaz, which is still running perfectly after 6 years. I just downloaded an ICC file from the internet, and a few small tweaks from there and the color was great. The only thing about my Soyo was that I did have a capacitor go bad on the power supply, and I had to order a $12 capacitor kit off Ebay to fix it. Having an external power brick actually sounds like a great idea for me as that would be very easy to replace.Reply

I just got the monitor , i would like to know what your calibrations were besides brightness and contrast. I have never calibrated a monitor before and i would like to get the best experience with this monitorReply

I've had the Catleap 2703 for awhile and love the color and resolution compared to a TN.I got it for $300 . The power switch doesn't always work on it after six months, but I don't careI just switch off the power brick. (It still looks great)I still would buy the cheap Korean one because of the price. If you want quality buy the Dell for twice the price because the $300 cheapie is probably the same as the $400 ones.Reply

I know this is about the 27" MONOPRICE and this looks as if this is all old hashed-out stuff but.. I am going to put my two cents in for what it's worth. I purchased the MONOPRICE 30" IPS CrystalPro LCD Monitor WQXGA 2560x1600 Display last year 2013.07.13 and have been pleased with my purchase. So satisfied that I have not looked back, no wishes I had done something else, not one bit. Bang for the buck this PC Monitor is great. If you would like a complete in-depth review go here << http://toytalks.weebly.com/1/post/2013/04/review-m... >> ; If you are dissatisfied with the 60Hz RES then use a utility such as: Custom Resolution Utility [CRU] which will allow you to OverClock your 30" MONOPRICE IPS. I use my 30" piece of real-estate for work which requires rendering, AUTOCAD & some PHOTO work along with Word, EXCEL, Web Designing etc and last but not least GAMES. I utilize Dual SAPPHIRE Radeon Vapor-X HD 7970 GHZ OC 6GB and yes I can put the 30" MONOPRICE into the "Hurt Locker" in short order but that is not what I purchased this piece of real-estate for; I needed something that would be a good compromise over a broad range for different applications & this MONOPRICE 30" IPS definitely fulfills my requirements. So for what it's worth, if anyone is in need for a good all around large PC Monitor [30"] & does not have the out-lay of cash for the thousand dollar range then this is a good solid purchase.Reply